Fifteen Afghan guards working for a private US security company have been killed in western Afghanistan.

The men working with USPI (US Protection and Investigations) were guarding a convoy of fuel tankers driving to a military base in Helmand province on Tuesday.

The governor of Farah province said the ambush was by the Taliban.

Governor Muhaidin Baluch said five more workers were wounded.

One fuel tanker was set on fire and a USPI vehicle was taken.

Colonel Saydo Khan, a police official, said reinforcements had been sent to the area and were fighting the attackers in a nearby village.

Thousands of people work for USPI, which is based in Texas, in Afghanistan.

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Taliban fighters (archive)